Your Best Years are Yet to Come
by SilverLunarStar
Summary: Two-Shot! Just when they thought they'd get their forever... WARNING: Character death!
1. Part I: Five (and only) Best Years

**The Doctor and Rose's Five (and only) Best Years**

_By: SilverLunarStar_

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**Disclaimer:** _If I owned _Doctor Who_ I wouldn't be... Nah, who am I kidding? I'd still be writing _

**Author's Note:** _Obviously, I had issues when I wrote this. ELI DOES NOT DO ANGST, you say? You'd be right. Except she does. Please don't kill me! I only do my muse's bidding... This is for the TTU challenge 004, inspired by picture #22._

_AND, thanks to the wonderful AAA, I shall have an epilogue with a relatively happy ending._

**Warning:** Character death. MAJOR character death. *runs and hides and sobs*

* * *

Year 3

Rose estimated that she'd travelled with the Doctor in her original universe for approximately two years. She'd been separated from him for a little over a year (though it felt like eons) and miraculously, somehow, Rose Tyler had the Doctor in her spacious, if impersonal, flat. For once, the two danced awkwardly around each other whereas before they'd been so at ease with one another. Maybe a little _too_ at ease. She wasn't quite sure what to think of this 'two Doctors' business, but it was something that could wait for tomorrow. After setting up the sofa-bed (Mickey and Jake had made use of it plenty of times when they'd stay long hours at Torchwood), Rose kissed the Doctor on the cheek - something that had become a bit of a custom between them after their fight with 'Satan', and went to bed.

When the Doctor woke up the next day, he was a bit dazed, wondering where he was. There were kinks in his back, but once he stretched a bit he was as good as new. Well, he _was_ pretty new. He looked at the back of his manly, hairy hands and he could swear that he still felt the tingles of regeneration in each atom of his body. Heading to the kitchen, the Doctor opened the fridge and made a face at the nearly-empty contents. He wanted to make Rose breakfast as he sometimes had done in the TARDIS (okay, so the TARDIS did most of the work and maybe it was a good thing there wasn't much choice in what to make), but even _he_ couldn't ruin an omelette and cereal. Sniffing at the milk to make sure it wasn't expired, he grabbed half a dozen eggs and got to work. He grated the cheese and made a couple of simple cheese omelettes.

Just as he was setting the table (him, setting the table! Was he turning domestic already?), he noticed a pile of...were those letter magnets? At first he wondered why Rose would have such flimsy magnets, but then he took notice of a few letters on the front of the fridge that spelled out 'Rose' and 'Tony'. The Doctor got a funny, fluttering feeling in his chest as his now singular, blood-pumping organ picked up speed. Looking at the pile on the counter again, he smiled mischievously.

A few minutes later, he was at her bedroom door, doing one of the most dangerous things in the universe (well, two universes now): Waking up Rose Tyler up. The Doctor had learned a long time ago that this was very much Not A Good Idea, but now he didn't have a TARDIS kitchen to keep the food warm. To his surprise, he found her awake already, but that wasn't all she was...

"Uh, bre-breakfast, I made, omelette, ready..." Having stammered that, he closed the door and went back to the kitchen, the image of Rose's completely nude back seared into his mind.

When Rose came in five minutes later (fully dressed, the Doctor lamented), she couldn't help the smile that spread on her face when she saw her small table set up for breakfast. As she sat down, that smile turned into a full on grin, tongue peeking out and all, as she saw the letter magnets she'd bought for her little brother Tony to play with when he came to visit with their mum.

'THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR BEST YEAR YET' was spelled out on the placemat. Rose looked up at the Doctor who was bringing her a cheese omelette and a bowl of cereal. She waited just long enough for him to set them down before standing back up and pinning him to the counter, snogging him breathless.

Year 4

Rose eyed the kitchen suspiciously as she heard low whispers coming from them. She hoped Tony and the Doctor wouldn't burn the house down. She didn't think even Pete would forgive the Doctor for that one. She bit her lip and reached up to tug the end of her hair, but brought her hand back down when she realized she couldn't. Instead she rubbed the end of the delicate head scarf Jackie had bought her, following its intricate pattern with her finger.

_It had been an unforgivable winter in London last year. The Doctor surmised that it was because the cracks in the universe hadn't finished healing yet. The Doctor and Rose had been walking home from a night out and they were running through the thick snow, laughing and holding hands the whole way to their flat. The rush of emotions going through the two of them gave them a wonderful high._

_The Doctor had just proposed an hour ago, right in the middle of a chippy and Rose could not have imagined a more perfect setting. It'd only been a few months since they'd been 'dropped off' in Pete's World and he'd declared that it was time they stopped dancing around on the matter. Rose wouldn't have minded if they married or not. To her, the fact that she had her Doctor here was more than enough. Just as they reached their block, Rose's grip on the Doctor's hand suddenly slackened as she stumbled and she would have fallen to the ground had the half-human not caught her on time._

_He'd gone into a complete panic, but retained enough thought to call 999. As soon as the ambulance had come and the paramedics had loaded Rose up, the Doctor jumped in and tried to stay out of the way even when everything in him wanted to push the professionals aside and do it all himself. For once, he was stuck. He could do nothing but let his eyes wander and observe everything that was being done. Once they arrived at Royal Hope Hospital, the Doctor was ordered to stay in a waiting room. After remembering himself, he called Pete and Jackie, then set about pacing back and forth._

_The next day, Rose was released from Royal Hope's care but she could not escape her Doctor's worry. Pete, Jackie, and him practically ganged up on her and convinced her to let Torchwood's doctors have a look. What they found was not good. It wasn't anything the Torchwood doctors would have found peculiar during a routine examination. In fact, they might have seen it when she and the Doctor had their physicals done after saving the multiverse, but no one had thought anything of it. The Doctor, joyous to be with Rose, hadn't thought to have a look at their results himself._

_This time around, when the Doctor had a look, he could swear his single heart stopped beating._

"_What's wrong?" Rose asked, coming up behind him. She looked at the charts, but couldn't make heads or tails of them. Human biology and electric engineering were two totally different subject matters. When the Doctor didn't respond for a good ten minutes, she gripped his bicep. Rose let out a small, surprised sound when he suddenly whirled around, let the papers fall to the floor, and held her tight._

"_I'll figure this out, I will. I'll find a way."_

_The Doctor, whenever he wasn't spending time with Rose, worked long hours, trying to find a cure, a more useful treatment. He was grateful when Pete gave him full access to everything he had at Torchwood, both human and alien tech. The Doctor knew that the man was also suffering from guilt, though there was nothing Pete Tyler could have done to stop Rose from trying to find him. Maybe if the Doctor had tried harder, he would have found that the universe was cracking around him and Rose wouldn't have had to go through the void so much._

_Rose, on the other hand, had withdrawn. She had spent all that time trying to find the Doctor and was now stuck in a world that was so different from hers with a Doctor she still wasn't quite sure was hers. The Doctor, distracted as he was, was trying to figure out a way to help her and he didn't quite notice when Rose would look at him with doubtful eyes. The fact that she was dying didn't help either. The Time Lord had always been so adamant in making sure their relationship didn't go any further than friendship and he'd always suggested that it was because of her short life span. She didn't quite understand why this Doctor wasn't running away. Everything had been going so well, maybe too well, too perfect. She hadn't felt this lost or afraid in a long time._

_Jackie, as heartbroken as she was, noticed everyone so caught up in their own pain and doubts, and she couldn't stand for it. She gathered the four of them up one day and firmly stated, "Alright, I know that this wasn't what we had imagined when we finally found the Doctor and set the universes right, but this is our life now. Pete, you didn't have to help Rose find the Doctor. You barely knew her, barely knew me really, and yet you trusted us enough to know that we were right and he was the only chance we had. Doctor, thank you for always taking care of my daughter, even now. I've always known you loved her, even as your big-eared, snarky self and I was always afraid you'd take her away from me and that I'd never see her again, but you brought her home to me time after time. You showed her that she was worth more than she ever knew, than I ever knew."_

_That was hard for her to admit. Jackie had always wanted what was best for her daughter, of course, but the unknown dangers she faced with this alien man scared her. In the end, she knew that what Rose was doing was right. Now, she turned to face her daughter and told her this. "Rose, I am so proud of you. You have grown into such a strong woman. But it's okay to be afraid. We're here for you."_

_Rose cried and hugged her mum tight. After embracing Pete as well, the older pair left to give her and the Doctor some privacy. Wiping the leftover tears, Rose faced the man that had, by an accidental biological metacrisis, come into existence to spend the rest of his life with her. By unforeseen number of events, he would once again be unable to spend the rest of it with her. She wondered how much longer it would take for him to run away and was scared to ask, but ask she did. "How long are you gonna stay with me?"_

_The Doctor took both her hands in his and looked her straight in the eyes as he answered, "Forever," before once again swearing to find a way for them to spend their lives together for as long as possible._

Unfortunately, even in Pete's World, no one had found the cure for cancer yet. Even if the Doctor had been able to jog his memory for a cure, it wouldn't have helped. What Rose had was something _similar_ to cancer, but not quite.

"_Basically, Rose traveled through the void without a capsule so much that her cells weren't able to stabilize quickly enough after each jump. They're deteriorating at rapid speed," he'd explained to Jackie, Pete, and Rose when he'd had a look at the results._

Either way, they tried what treatments were currently available, including chemotherapy which the Doctor had always found just a bit barbaric, but it was the best treatment for whatever it was Rose had. Her body had gone through the void so many times that her cells weren't quite sure whether they were meant to stay or not, whether they existed or not, and were at war with one another. The chemo was supposed to stop the cells that were harming her more than helping, but it was no use. Rose wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

Rose snapped out of her thoughts as she heard a knock on the door. She was about to stand to open it, but the Doctor was out the kitchen and in the hallway before she could put both feet on the floor. She eyed him when he came back in, her mum in tow, and he simply gave her his puppy-eyed look. Rose could never stay mad at him for long when he did that.

"Have a seat, Jackie; Tony and I are almost done."

The blonde woman looked around the flat. "I was surprised when I arrived and saw that the building was still standing." She raised a brow as the Doctor scowled at her.

A half an hour later, Jackie and Tony Tyler were out the door with a promise to visit again soon.

Once he locked the door, the Doctor made a beeline for Rose and helped her stand up to bring her into the kitchen to show her what he and Tony had been working on. Her eyes filled with unshed tears as she saw cookies cooling off on a cookie sheet on the table. They were molded into letters, coated in pink, yellow, and red icing, and spelled out 'THIS IS GOING TO BE YOUR BEST YEAR YET'.

"Happy one year," the Doctor said.

She smiled, her eyes bright with unshed tears to match his own. The Doctor's fingers made their way to the knot of her scarf. Tugging it off, he placed gentle kisses on her head, a light fuzz just barely beginning to grow. They'd stopped treatment once the Doctor realized it wasn't doing anything to help; her cells were still deteriorating at way too fast a rate. Soon, Rose wouldn't need the scarf anymore. She'd decided she would keep her hair its natural brunette color once it'd grown a sufficient length - if she lasted long enough... Shaking her head to rid herself of negative thoughts, Rose grabbed the last 'T' and bit into it.

Year 5

The doctors didn't know how to explain the fact that Rose was still alive. She knew the Doctor, her Doctor, suspected something, but she wasn't sure what it was. All she knew was that it had something to do with the time she'd opened up the heart of the old TARDIS. After they'd decided to stop chemo last year, they were certain she wouldn't last very long, but when Rose demanded she help grow their new baby TARDIS as much as she could, he'd relented. The Doctor was astonished by how much brighter Rose became when she was simply around their seedling.

In the end, however, they had to admit that Rose couldn't hold out much longer. Just after they reached their second anniversary of being in Pete's World, she was put to twenty-four hour bed rest to wait for the inevitable to happen. It wasn't long before the dreaded day finally came. She'd refused to be wired up and so it was up to the Doctor to check her vitals every few hours and he hardly left her side anyways, so of course he was the first to notice when Rose's breathing altered significantly. He called for Jackie and Pete before joining Rose again.

When her parents arrived, the Doctor gave them a few moments with her. When Rose called for him, he was at her side in a flash. He didn't know what to say. Rose, on the other hand, did.

"Promise me, Doctor, promise me," Rose pleaded, holding his hand in a weak grip.

He shook his head, unable to make that promise. They'd discussed this a lot, late into the night when she couldn't sleep. Not once had he been able to agree with her. How could the Doctor live his life to the fullest without Rose Tyler in it? It was the one adventure he had never had, but one he had never wanted, had never considered, without her. "You can let go now," he whispered in her ear.

Rose looked up at him and knew she wouldn't have been able to extract the promise from him. All she wanted was his happiness, but how could she expect him to do what she herself would have been unable to do? Instead, she smiled at him and with her last breath, Rose uttered, "This is going to be your best year yet."

The Doctor didn't even bother to hide the tears that ran over his face. He heard Jackie let out a loud and painful sob as she realized her daughter, the woman she had raised all on her own, was gone.

The Doctor was alone.

Year 1

Rose Tyler gripped the Doctor's shoulders as they danced. Really, he was simply twirling her as she stood on his feet, but it was a sign of disrespect for a female's feet to touch the ground when dancing and so the Doctor simply spun around slowly so as not to throw them both off-kilter. It'd only been a few weeks since he'd proved to Rose he had the moves and he didn't want her attention...straying anywhere else.

Resting her head on his chest, something a stranger had once told her on New Year's of 2005 came to her mind; he'd said, "I bet you're going to have a really great year." Rose had no idea how the man had known, but it really had been.

"This has been my best year yet," Rose whispered into the Doctor's ear.

He stilled as he felt something in her timelines shift. Looking down at her confused expression, he shook his head and continued spinning them around. If the Doctor held her a little tighter, neither said a word and they simply basked in each other's presence.

Year 2

The Doctor found Rose in the library, lying down on 'his' couch. He stood at the end of it and watched her bring her feet up without looking up from her book. Sitting down, he ignored it as she brought her feet back down to lay on his lap and simply continued to look at her with his dark brown eyes.

Finally, Rose could take the staring no longer. Sighing, she put 'Wuthering Heights' down on her chest and gave him her full attention. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes when he brightened, but a small smirk made its way to her face. "Yes, Doctor?"

"Did you know it's been a year since you first began traveling with me?" the Doctor spoke slowly and carefully, as if speaking to a child.

Rose hadn't. Of course, she hardly knew how old she even was anymore. Shaking her head, her heart gave a little tug when his bright expression fell. Removing her feet from his lap, she placed a bookmark on the page she had left off in the book and stood up. "So, where are going?"

A full-blown grin spread across the Doctor's face. He grabbed her hand and dashed off to the console room. Pointing out at which buttons to press and what levers to flick, he turned back to her as they drove the TARDIS through the vortex and swore, "Just you wait, Rose Tyler; this is going to be your best year yet."


	2. Part II: and Beyond

**Your Best Years are Yet to Come**

_By: SilverLunarStar_

**_Part II: …and Beyond_**

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**Author's Note:** _See~? I told you! Didn't I tell you all I'd be back with a solution? I'm just sorry it took me this long! Also, these are really just snippets and not really a story. I'm sorry. But you still get a happy end? Of course, this would not have been possible without the wonderful Aaa. Thank you so much to some wonderful ladies who helped me work out some of the kinks and my brilliant beta, callistawolf, for helping me through this wretched story. **THERE'S A BIT OF SMUT IN ONE PAGE. JUST WARNING YA NOW.**_

_**Side note:**__ I made it so Pete's World has the same school system as America._

* * *

The Doctor and the Tylers had been prepared for Rose's passing, but that didn't make arrangements any easier. Quite honestly, the Doctor spent most of his days working on the TARDIS. Jackie and Pete allowed this, because if either one of them asked him to get something done, he'd do it without complaint before returning to the TARDIS. The day of the funeral and memorial service came around and the Doctor was there, in his blue suit and red chucks. Somehow, he knew Rose would have been amused by this. After that, he practically disappeared.

For two weeks, Jackie seriously thought the Doctor had left to parts unknown. It wasn't until she went to clear up the flat he and Rose had lived in that she finally found him in the small back room, crammed with tools, a piece of coral that was about three feet wide and a foot and a half across, and his own six foot frame. He was huddled in a corner, staring blankly at the ground.

"Doctor-" Jackie gasped when he looked up, and she saw brown eyes filled with such intense pain that her heart stuttered.

"She's gone, Jackie," the Doctor croaked, his voice soft and raspy from disuse. "She's gone and she's never coming back." He felt as if his only heart had been torn out of his chest and he had no urge to continue on. Without Rose, everything was pointless to him. No point in dreaming, in getting up in the morning, washing, eating… Their dreams of finally spending their one life together had turned to dust, the dust he had always feared she'd become long before her time.

Jackie's eyes filled with tears and she nodded, sitting down beside him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, startling when he suddenly turned towards her and started sobbing, harsh, long-drawn out sobs. Jackie let a few tears of her own escape, holding him close, rubbing soothing circles on his back. She knew nothing would comfort the Doctor for a long time yet. She herself was still hurting and she still remembered the fresh pain she'd gone through when she'd lost her first Pete. "Come on, love, let's get you cleaned up. You'll stay with us for awhile, yeah?"

The Doctor simply nodded numbly and headed to the bathroom.

* * *

'This isn't working,' Jackie thought as she saw the Doctor slumped on a bench in the garden. It was barely noon, but he'd yet to have any breakfast and refused to have lunch. Jackie and Pete had finally decided it was best to sell the flat, and have the Doctor move in with them for a bit, but instead of getting better, he only seemed to get worse. "Oh, Rose, why couldn't the universe just let you two have your happily ever after?" She pressed her face into her Pete's shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

* * *

"No!" he screeched. This couldn't be happening. Nothing was going right. It wasn't supposed to be this way. Why had he been created if everything was simply going to be taken from him again and again?

It'd been nearly a month and the baby TARDIS had not grown since he'd moved her into the garden shed once it had been decided he'd stay at the mansion until further notice. This was the final straw for him and for what felt like hours, he toppled over tables, shelves, threw tools on the floor, and would have most likely caused an incendiary had he not been interrupted.

"Doctor?"

The small voice spoke up that froze him in his place. He turned around slowly and saw none other than Tony Tyler. The young boy seemed to stare up at the part-alien for an infinite number of minutes.

"I miss Rose, too," Tony finally said.

The Doctor's single heart suddenly felt as if it'd been restarted, the shattered organ taking its first step in coming back together, and he took in a sharp breath. He walked the few paces that kept the two apart, bending down to be at eye-level with him and hugging the boy.

This boy, who was so like his sister in many ways, had broken through the Doctor's pain, and his heart and compassion would be enough to get the madman going again. He'd live on and make sure Tony Tyler lived the best life ever. That was the best he could do. Suddenly, he felt a warm caress within his mind and knew he'd never be alone, not really.

"Come on, Tony Tyler. Let's get you inside."

"Doctor?"

"Yes?"

"You better clean up that mess or mum's gonna get mad at you."

An amused feeling tickled his mind and he shot a playful glare at the large chunk of coral that clung to the Southeast wall.

Things would be just fine.

* * *

"Uncle Doctor, Uncle Doctor!"

A man who looked around sixty-four years of age laughed as he was attacked from both sides by his niece and nephew. "How are we doing today?" He looked down at the seven- and nine-year-olds clinging to his legs.

"Uncle Doctor, Rose keeps taking my toys."

"Only because Alex wouldn't share."

"Now, what have I said about sharing, Alex?"

"But-"

"And what did I say about taking things without explicit permission, Rose?"

"But-"

Lips jutted out and he shook his head, smiling fondly. "Come on, let's head to the park."

"Yeah!" Twin voices chimed up as they raced towards the door.

The Doctor's empty hand clenched around air, missing the only fingers that would ever link perfectly with his. He'd walked all these years alone, unable to run without a hand to hold. Although his heart had slowly been put together by the father of these two children, the scars remained, unable to heal completely. The fact that he'd been able to go on at all was a miracle in itself. He never felt quite right, didn't feel like anyone special, but he lived on in memory of her, caring for her- _their_- family as best he could.

* * *

Twelve-year-old Rose and fifteen-year-old Alex Tyler sat quietly on a settee in the corner of the room, faces as somber as the black outfits they'd put on for this miserable day. They watched as people milled around the room, some waiting in line to pay their respects over a box filled with their Uncle Doctor's ashes, pictures of him surrounding it. Most of them were pictures with them, pictures from when they were born, others of their outings, and even some with their dad, Tony. There was one, however, that stood out from the rest. For even though he was smiling in all his pictures, none could hold a candle to the one of him beaming brightly at a young blonde woman whose grin matched his as they stared at one another, love shining in their eyes.

They'd never met her, but they'd heard a lot about her, in stories of their uncle's adventures throughout time and space. Though he'd told them of other people, other friends, it had been different when he'd talked of his time with their Aunt Rose. There had always been love and longing in his voice. Now, they'd never again be able to hear of their uncle's adventures.

After everyone except the family had gone home, Tony, his wife Elaina, Rose, and Alex stood together on the cliffside of a beach and threw the ashes of the Doctor and Rose Tyler, two separate individuals that now rode the wind currents as one, off into the unknown.

* * *

Tony went to the old garden shed and looked around, stunned when he couldn't find the TARDIS. Though she'd never been prepared for travels, the Doctor had continued to work on her faithfully, hoping to take them out to see the stars one day. Now, he only hoped he and his sister were finally reunited. The universe could at least give them that much.

* * *

The day the Doctor died, millions of lightyears away in what was known to few as the Kasterborous System, dust and chunks of rocks gathered together to begin again.

The TARDIS hummed a sad, but hopeful tune, landing in an isolated location as the essences she held within danced around one another, touches grazing, as they were always meant to. The ship would do everything in her power to make sure they would always be together, no matter how long it took.

* * *

Having memories that weren't yours, but were - yeah, like that made any sense - was the most frustrating way to live. James Smith was smart enough to understand that he was different from most people and not just in the oh-aren't-you-an-oddball-genius sort of way. He was clever, beyond clever, no doubt about that. At twenty years old, he already held two bachelor's, a master's, and a PhD in English, History, and astrophysics (this being the master's and PhD which he was able to get even though his undergraduate studies didn't technically cover all the prerequisites, but he'd taken some undergraduate physics courses for fun). It was more than that, however. He wasn't just James Smith, genius extraordinaire. Something deep inside him insisted he was more. Oh, he was definitely a twenty-year-old young man, but… he didn't know how to explain it. He was just _more_.

As he turned the corner, finally leaving the college campus where he'd been a guest speaker for the new freshmen, James caught sight of a disaster waiting to happen.

There was a young, blonde woman stepping into a blocked off part of the street whilst trying to help a woman who looked like she was being attacked by three men. James knew a set up when he saw one, though, and this screamed of danger.

* * *

Lillian Carter had just finished her orientation at University of London College where she'd be attending for the next four years. She was nervous and excited to be starting this new chapter in her life, a chapter she never thought she'd get to write.

She'd been minding her own business, thinking about meeting up with a couple of friends at a local pub when she heard a scuffle going on a little out of the way from the street. A woman had been surrounded by three men and one of them looked to be holding a knife. Lillian cursed herself for forgetting her mobile today, but she couldn't pretend like she hadn't seen anything. "Oi! Leave her alone!" She hoped that would be enough to allow the stranger to escape but, instead of scurrying off, the woman whom she thought was being attacked smirked and nodded at the men; they turned to her.

She cursed again, taking a step back, hoping she could get back onto the street before they grabbed her. Suddenly, a hand wrapped around hers. She turned to meet startling blue eyes.

"Run!"

Just like that, her legs kicked into gear, sprinting off with this strange man with the firm grip, fingers threading together like they were made for one another. It was an odd thing to realize in the moment, but there just something so…_right_ about this.

Finally, when they were a few blocks away, he stopped and she bent over, hands on her thighs as she took in deep breaths. She hadn't run like that since she was in primary school, training for her gymnastics competition.

"That has got to be the _stupidest_-"

"Oi!"

"-and bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do." He grinned at her and her heart worked overtime. "I'm Doctor James Smith, by the way, what's your name?"

She knew who he was. He'd been one of the guest speakers at her orientation. Still, she didn't hesitate to reply. "Lillian, Lillian Carter."

"Nice to meet you, Lillian Carter. Would you like to go for some chips?"

* * *

"If I'd known you'd make me pay, I never would have agreed. Tightwad." Her tongue poked out teasingly and James couldn't help as his gaze zeroed in on it.

It wasn't right. Once he'd realized Lillian was to be a student at the college, he'd known he really shouldn't let this date - no, it wasn't a date… Well, whatever it was, he'd known he shouldn't let it continue. Although he'd only been a guest speaker at the orientation, he'd also been asked to take a professorial position there and was still thinking of accepting it. He didn't even know what had prompted him to ask her out for chips. Running a hand through his thick hair, he prepared to make an excuse so they could go their separate ways. Of course, his mouth had other ideas.

"You know, there's going to be a super moon tomorrow night and it also happens to be a full moon. It'll be the largest moon of the year and the observatory will be hosting an event, and I just thought maybe, you'd like to come along?" He tried not to sound too eager, was aiming for casual really, but ended up rushing the words out.

Lillian bit her lip, thinking about it. It was one thing to have chips with the man, but he was virtually a stranger. Though he didn't give her the creep vibe, far from it, and he _had_ saved her, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea. When she'd mentioned the college she would soon be attending, he seemed to close off on her and she wasn't sure why. If he wasn't interested, though, she didn't see why she should bother, even though there was something about him that drew her in.

"Yeah, I can't. I've got this thing with my mum and I have to get ready for classes next week."

"Okay." James stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets, scuffling the sole of his beige Chuck Taylors on the ground. "See you around." He gave her a half-smile before walking away.

She immediately regretted her flimsy excuse, but it was too late. Heart heavy, she began to head home herself, realizing she would most likely never see him again, he turned right back around. "By the way, did I mention the observatory just got a nice donation, so it'll be free of charge and there'll be refreshments and music and the view is sure to be fantastic, so there's no need to worry about paying," he ended cheekily.

This time, Lillian knew she would be unable to resist. "Okay," she answered simply.

"Brilliant!" He was practically beaming from head to toe, and even his hair seemed to stand higher. "I, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, "Cou-could I walk you home?"

She grinned and extended her hand, a warmth settling in her chest as their fingers twined.

* * *

"So you see, that's why I don't know if we can-"

"Are you teaching English?"

"What? No."

"Well, my major's English, so I won't be in your department."

James opened his mouth to spout off another excuse, but then closed it once he realized there really wasn't anything stopping him, except his own moral dilemma. It wasn't like she was underage. They were two, consenting adults and really, who was he kidding? He wanted her like he'd never wanted anyone else. Once it'd been decided, the beginning of rest of their lives spiralled into action.

* * *

"What do you think?"

James' jaw dropped as he took in the pink dress with its poofy skirt and the sparkling top snug around her chest, half-hidden by a denim jacket to protect her from the fall chill.

She rolled her eyes once she realized he was still wearing one of his usual pinstriped suits, the brown one she liked so much on him, but would never admit to just how much she enjoyed the way it looked on him. Although, the blue one had its merits - and let's not even get into the occasional times he had to wear a tuxedo… All he'd done for tonight was style his hair into a pompadour. Well, that was good enough for her. Lillian's eyes trailed his form and grinned as he straddled his motorcycle. When she'd found out he owned a classic, blue Triumph Thruxton (although the bike seemed a little small at first, she was much more spacious than Lillian had first given her credit for), it'd shocked her that the genius, pretty boy could be such a rebel at heart. She wouldn't have it any other way.

"You goin' my way, doll?" he asked in a horrible, Grease-like mimic.

"Is there any other way to go, daddy-o? Straight from the fridge, man!" Lillian retorted in an equally horrible, nineteen-fifties imitation, and laughed. Thank goodness for bank holidays with her mum. Though over a hundred years old, Cliff Richard movies were some of Mrs Carter's favourites.

"Hey, you speak the lingo!" he said with delight.

She simply winked as she walked towards him, sliding right behind him. Once she had her helmet on and her arms were securely wrapped around him, they headed off to a Halloween party outside of London.

* * *

"James, stop it. I'm trying to study." Lillian swatted his hands away from her waist as she tried to concentrate on her textbook. He'd offered to help her study for her finals, _"I have a B.A. in English, Lillian. Who better to help?"_, but all he'd really been doing was driving her to distraction.

"_Lillian_, we've been at this for two hours. You can stand to take a break."

"If I don't pass this, I'll be dropped a whole letter grade."

He smoothly removed the book from her hands, cutting off her protest with a finger to her lips. "You know this, you'll be fine. We'll go over it again in the morning before you head to class."

"But-"

With that, James silenced her the best way he knew how, and removed his finger to replace it with his lips.

* * *

"I dreamed of you, you know," James whispered in her ear.

Lillian looked into his blue eyes. "You know, I did too." A beat. "Except you had bigger ears." Her tongue poked out between her teeth.

"Oi!" He let go of her hand and tickled her sides.

"Doctor, stop!" She laughed and they almost fell off the bed.

James hovered over her looking intensely into her honey eyes. "You called me Doctor."

"Well, you are one," she said, pointing out the obvious.

And that was that.

* * *

The Doctor frowned for a moment. "Lillian, your heart…?"

She blinked tiredly; she'd been on the verge of falling asleep when his voice brought her back to the land of consciousness. "Oh, I've always had that. I'm surprised you didn't notice it sooner. Though it's never been this noticeable." Her heart had stuttered, beating in overtime. It'd been doing that a lot less in the past few months, though she still went for her check-ups. "I was born with an 'innocent' heart murmur, the doctors said."

"That's some coincidence." He continued when she gave him a look. "I have one too. Born with it as well, but it's never developed into anything dangerous either, thankfully. And you know, heart murmurs don't necessarily have to do with a heart dysfunction, though we still have to watch out for them."

"I can hardly tell I have it most days now. I guess it was just waiting for you," she murmured before the tendrils of sleep completely wrapped her up.

He looked at his sleeping goddess, his hearts - heart (just because it sounded like two, didn't mean there were two) - swelling in love for this one woman.

* * *

Tracing patterns on his chest and feeling the staccato of his heartbeats, Lillian sighed.

"What's wrong, love?" His fingers ran up and down her back as he wondered what was on her mind.

"Don't you, I dunno, don't you sometimes get the feeling that there's _more_ out there for us?"

His fingers stilled, coming up to raise her chin so he was looking her in the eye. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care where I'm at."

"It's not…" She brought her hand to hold his. "You will _always_ be enough. I just meant-"

He kissed her slowly, lips caressing lips, before his tongue gently swiped hers apart, exploring the places he knew so well and could never get enough of. Finally parting, breath just a bit short, he murmured, "I know what you mean, Lillian. I feel it too. The need to move, to wander. It's like an urge to run, a thirst for adventure… wanderlust." As he spoke, his hands had slid down her body, cupping her breasts, dipping to her waist, gliding down her thighs as he parted them to settle between them. Their lives, he imagined, was something that could touch the stars. Together they could trudge through anything. "Let's do it. Let's just go somewhere, get away from it all. No need to worry about getting caught, about reputation, just us."

Lillian's breath hitched when the Doctor thrust in again, her moans of pleasure echoing his, or his hers. She wasn't quite sure and, really, by this point it didn't matter. What mattered was that it was her and him. In the moment before they both reached their climax, one of Lillian's hands reached up to the side of his face, thumb grazing up his sideburn and up his temple.

His eyes shot open and the intensity of his gaze equaled the look in her honey-rimmed eyes. An eternity passed in that moment before their physiology finally brought them down and they moaned each other's names in ecstasy.

Only breathing filled the room as they drifted off to sleep, dreaming of a life full of wonder and adventure, side by side.

* * *

Lillian and the Doctor had been wandering through Europe ever since they decided they needed more out of life than books and cleverness. They started off by going to places in London they'd never been to before. Currently, they were making their way through the Highlands of Scotland when they decided it'd be a good idea to run through a small thicket of trees. The trees were completely out of place, so their curiosity naturally took over and they had to explore.

Sometimes, Lillian thought of how her mum would hang her if she knew what she was doing, but she always felt safe with him. For a long time, Lillian had felt out of sync from everyone else. Her loved ones had teased her and told her she had an 'old soul' when she'd find something modern just a bit odd or the way she sometimes dressed in clothing that was more popular during the early twenty-first century, but with the Doctor, everything felt right. She snapped out of her thoughts when they suddenly stumbled upon an old blue box. She was inspecting the 'Police Public Call Box' from all sides when she then noticed the Doctor on top of the box, grinning mischievously.

"How'd you get up there?" she frowned.

He smirked and gestured at the branches of the tree next to them, her eyes dawning with understanding. There was a branch, low and sturdy enough to climb onto to get to the others in order to reach the branch that hovered a couple of feet over the box.

"I'm surprised it hasn't collapsed. She seems so old." A hand came up to caress the side and the Doctor didn't even blink when she used 'she' to describe the box. Neither did she, now thinking about it.

Climbing back down (and rolling his eyes when Lillian warned him to be careful), the Doctor reached a hand to the door, ready to open it, but her hand stopped him. He turned to her and frowned.

"It says 'pull'," she said, pointing at the sign with her other hand. She giggled and her tongue stuck out between her teeth as she grinned at him when he huffed.

Visibly melting at her brilliant smile, he nodded and, as one, they pulled the door open. They were enveloped in a warm glow and, for the first time in their lives (well, these lives anyway), they felt the welcome of home that they'd never found anywhere but with each other.

An awareness slowly crept into their minds and they gasped as dreams, odd feelings, and names finally fell into place. They knew who they were. They were Doctor James Smith and Lillian Carter. They were also more than that. They were a Lord of Time and the Bad Wolf, old souls that had been preserved by this gorgeous Time and Relative Dimensions in Space ship so they could begin anew and finally get the beginning, middle, and end they truly deserved, travelling time and space, hand in hand.

* * *

The Doctor gasped and it was echoed by Lillian as they stepped out of their blue box and onto a field of rich red grass. A ringing sound floated in the wind as silver leaves rustled. Somehow, they knew this whole place was empty, but could feel the echoes of a distant future where the planet would be populated with, not only their descendants, but with various other species imaginable. Their progeny would learn and grow to love the universe, would always have the urge to protect it, and Time would always course through them, helping to preserve it as they learned to preserve Time.

The Doctor turned to Ro- Lillian. Lillian Rose? He liked the sound of that. He looked at her, hand gripping his and he knew she'd seen it, felt it too. He'd never deluded himself into thinking anything could last forever, that was impossible. However, he had a feeling Lillian Carter was someone who had impossible for breakfast. They walked hand in hand, exploring this new planet. Now they both knew.

They are Doctor James Smith and Lillian Carter, the Doctor and Rose Tyler, a Lord of Time and the Bad Wolf, and they would soon go back in the TARDIS, off to travel to parts unknown, finding adventures, and enjoying a leisurely days, together, just as it should be.


End file.
